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The FCC has tightened security oversight of submarine cables landing in the United States, but it has not barred every foreign company from building or operating them. Rules adopted in 2025 created adverse licensing presumptions and security requirements for specified foreign-adversary-linked entities; a June 2026 order added licensing oversight for submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) and a potential faster review path for applicants that meet demanding security standards.
What changed, and when?
The FCC’s changes came in two stages. On August 7, 2025, the commission adopted its first major submarine-cable security order, FCC 25-49, released August 13. Its principal rules were published in the Federal Register on October 27, 2025.
On June 25, 2026, the FCC adopted FCC 26-42, a Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. It released the order on June 30. The full order includes final rules as well as proposals for public comment; the Federal Register publication followed on July 27, 2026. The final rules and proposed measures should not be treated as the same thing.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThe FCC regulates U.S. cable-landing licenses and related infrastructure, not every undersea cable worldwide. These systems matter because submarine cables carry the overwhelming majority of international internet traffic, according to the FCC’s June 2026 announcement.
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The 2026 focus: equipment at the shore end
Submarine line terminal equipment, or SLTE, connects the undersea cable to terrestrial networks at a landing station. It is not the submerged fiber itself, but it is a critical transmission and control component. SLTE can affect how capacity is activated, managed, monitored and upgraded, and its operators or service providers may have access to sensitive network functions.
The FCC said its prior licensing framework did not comprehensively cover SLTE owners and operators. FCC 26-42 creates a licensing regime for them, including a blanket-license mechanism for eligible existing and future operators that are not otherwise excluded. It also sets safeguards for equipment and third-party providers.
This matters in an “open cable” design, where a project can procure the wet plant—the submerged cable system—separately from the SLTE. That flexibility can broaden supplier choices, but it also means a cable owner must account for who owns and operates the shore-end equipment, not just who manufactured or installed the cable. Ciena’s discussion of an open-cable project illustrates that separation.
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The 2026 order also creates a presumptive exemption from referral to the executive-branch national-security review process commonly called Team Telecom for qualifying applications. To qualify, applicants must be able to certify to 10 national-security standards, have an appropriate operating history, meet high security requirements, and accept continuing oversight and monitoring. This is a potential route to a faster, more predictable review—not a guaranteed approval, a fixed timeline, or a promise that no national-security review will occur.
What the 2025 rules say about foreign firms
The 2025 order established a presumption against granting cable-landing licenses to entities that are owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary; entities on the FCC’s Covered List; and certain related entities. The FCC may withhold a license or impose conditions to address security risks. That is a significant licensing barrier, but it is not a blanket prohibition on foreign companies.
The rules turn on defined risk categories, not foreign incorporation alone. A firm from a U.S. ally is not automatically disqualified. Conversely, a U.S.-incorporated subsidiary may receive scrutiny if a foreign-adversary parent controls it or directs its operations. China is a prominent example in the rulemaking record, alongside Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and the Maduro regime; the operative definitions and designations should be checked against current regulations rather than assumed to be permanent.
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Several distinct mechanisms are involved:
- Adverse licensing presumption: Certain applicants face a presumption against receiving a cable-landing license.
- Covered List restrictions: The 2025 framework restricts covered operations from using equipment or services identified on the FCC’s Covered List.
- Certification: Applicants and licensees must certify that they have created, updated and implemented cybersecurity and physical-security risk-management plans, and that the system will not use covered equipment or services.
- Team Telecom review: A referral is an executive-branch national-security review, distinct from the FCC’s licensing decision. The 2026 presumptive exemption can apply to eligible applicants; it does not abolish review for everyone else.
- Reporting: Certain higher-risk existing licensees face continuing information and annual-report duties.
Ownership disclosure is not a foreign-ownership cap
The 2025 framework generally retained a 10% threshold for reporting direct or indirect equity or voting interests in ordinary submarine-cable applicants. A separate 5% disclosure threshold applies in the relevant foreign-adversary ownership and control framework. The latter is a disclosure and monitoring requirement—not a rule that prohibits every foreign investment of 5% or more.
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Ownership review should not stop at a cap table. Voting rights, board appointment powers, vetoes, other negative-control rights, parent entities and indirect interests can matter to the control analysis. A minority investor may warrant attention even below a general threshold if its rights amount to control or a more specific foreign-adversary disclosure rule applies. See the FCC’s January 2026 document for the distinct 5% and 10% frameworks.
Who may be affected?
- Cable owners and landing-station operators: They need to establish ownership, control, security practices, equipment provenance and who has operational access.
- SLTE owners and operators: They are directly within the scope of the new 2026 licensing framework, even if another company supplied the wet plant.
- Foreign investors and parent companies: Their jurisdiction, control rights and relationship to a foreign adversary can affect disclosure and licensing risk.
- Capacity buyers and IRU holders: Contract rights matter. The 2025 order restricts certain capacity arrangements that would allow a foreign-adversary entity to install, own or manage SLTE at a U.S. landing.
- Cloud, network-management and maintenance providers: Remote administration, monitoring, software and maintenance may create access or jurisdiction questions, even if the provider did not make the cable.
- Existing licensees: Existing systems are not automatically exempt from continuing obligations. Certain licensees meeting specified risk criteria must file a Foreign Adversary Annual Report.
The FCC also adopted a one-time information collection to build a clearer picture of cable infrastructure and operations. The requested details include ownership, landing points, power-feed equipment, SLTE locations and operators, segments and lengths, branching units, fiber-pair counts, landing stations and beach manholes, covered equipment or services, and certain third-party foreign-adversary service providers. It does not mean every existing cable must reapply for a license.
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- Versatile: Ideal for transmitting crystal-clear digital audio from your TV, video game console (PS3/PS4/Xbox One), DVD/Blu-ray player, or TV streaming box to a soundbar, amplifier/amp, stereo/Hi-Fi system, D/A converter, and more
- High-End: This metal-free fiber optic audio cable, featuring a fully flexible PVC jacket, is entirely immune to electrical interference. Each cable undergoes multi-stage testing during manufacturing to ensure maximum product quality and durability
- 24K gold-plated connectors: Corrosion resistant gold plating keeps connectors clean. And because these cables are fiber optic, they provide 100 % signal transmission with 0 % loss
- No risk: 36 months manufacturer warranty
A practical risk check for a proposed U.S. cable project
Before filing or signing supplier and capacity contracts, a project team can map the questions the FCC’s framework makes important:
- Trace ownership and control. Document direct and indirect owners, voting interests, parent companies, state-linked investors, board rights and veto powers. Identify any foreign-adversary connection.
- Map jurisdictions and operations. Record where the applicant is incorporated, where the cable lands, where SLTE is located, and where it is operated or remotely managed. Assess relevant routes and connections under the applicable rules.
- Inventory the technology and service chain. Identify suppliers for wet plant, SLTE, power-feed equipment, management software, cloud monitoring, maintenance and remote access. Check equipment and services against the current FCC Covered List; country of manufacture alone is not the same as Covered List status or foreign-adversary control.
- Review every capacity arrangement. Determine whether a customer, lessee or IRU holder can install, own, operate or manage SLTE, or otherwise exercise control that could affect compliance.
- Prepare verifiable security plans. Document cybersecurity and physical protections, access controls, incident response, vendor screening, monitoring and audit processes. A certification needs operational support, not merely a policy document.
- Assess fast-track eligibility. Determine whether the applicant can truthfully certify to all applicable 2026 security standards, demonstrate the required operating history, and accept continuing FCC oversight. Do not assume eligibility guarantees approval or exemption in every circumstance.
- Plan for changes after approval. Establish a process to review ownership, vendor, remote-access, service-provider and contract changes, and to meet applicable reporting obligations during the license term.
What the rules do—and do not—mean for the market
The FCC is pairing tighter scrutiny with an incentive for projects it considers secure: more documentation and safeguards up front may make review more predictable for applicants that qualify for the presumptive Team Telecom exemption. Projects with unclear beneficial ownership, weak vendor records or poorly defined remote access may face delays or additional conditions even if no single component is categorically barred.
Open-cable procurement can create flexibility, but separating wet plant from SLTE also multiplies the interfaces that need to be documented. The relevant question is not simply “Who built the cable?” It is also who owns and operates SLTE, who can administer it, what services support it, and what rights capacity customers hold.
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These rules may favor suppliers and operators able to provide transparent ownership, equipment and access records, including firms from allied countries. That is a plausible commercial effect, not proof that a particular company will win contracts or receive FCC approval. The FCC has not eliminated all national-security review, and a project cannot claim compliance merely because its supplier is foreign-made or U.S.-based.
Important implementation questions remain, including how the FCC will apply the 10 standards in individual cases, how quickly presumptive exemptions will be processed, and how complex joint ventures or later ownership changes will be treated. Provisions in the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking remain proposals unless and until adopted as final rules.
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